I've recently caught up with Abrams' surprisingly thought-provoking and involving Fringe (easy to see why this one has such a fervent little following), so I admit I'm curious about giving Alcatraz a shot, but I've heard nothing but middling to bad things about it

Fringe is well worth the time investment, but it's definitely one you have to start from the beginning (and have a little patience with as it finds its footing). But the rewards are fantastic, because while it looks for a while like it's following another X-Files-esque mythology storyline that never resolves itself, the show's actually super-planned out and the payoffs that come starting in the second-half of the second season and carrying over into the entire third season result in simply some of the best, most satisfying television.

In an absolute miracle and proof that someone at Fox loves this show as much as the small cadre of fans, Fringe has been renewed for a fifth and final season, allowing it to wrap up its increasingly complicated storyline as the creators intended. This will be news y'all will care about in a couple years once you put the time and energy into getting into this brilliant show. I couldn't be happier!

Watched the first two seasons of Fringe last summer and really enjoyed it, especially in the second year when it became more about Walter and his relationship with Peter, really the heart of the show from what I've seen. Hope to catch up soon.

Last nite was the series finale and while there were some obvious problems with the fifth season, the ending was exactly right and a perfect note to go out on. Through some sort of miracle this low-rated show was given a chance to explain and utilize the majority of its mythology and end on its own terms. I know some other board members have been swayed over towards giving this show a shot, and at least your time invested (100 episodes exactly) will pay off satisfactorily if you make it this far!

The ending hit the right emotional pay-offs for me, especially the various character "goodbye" moments, and I think that's what matters more than the logical payoffs, which were problematic at best in the last season. My biggest problem with season five is

Well, since the fifth season is an extension of the fourth season's timeline, Peter never existed anyways, so it doesn't change the causality of the current timeline if September doesn't rescue Walter and Red Universe Peter. But I thought the idea, born out from the Observer language on Walter's return address, is that the Observers do exist, but evolved to be more like Michael thanks to Walter's intervention. This may even retroactively explain the more human emotions of August and September.

Can you imagine someone who's never seen the show trying to make sense of the above?

Though it provides a lot of explanations and payoffs for the mysterious presence of the Observers through the first four seasons (and a few other running mythology-related aspects), the fifth is ultimately self-contained bonus material for the fans, and seen as an appendix to the series it works within this function.

Finally got around to this show and it really is a prime example of great sci-fi and a show getting progressively better with each successive season (there are a few hiccups in the transition from season 4 to 5, but I'm willing to forgive them).

I love when a show gets an idea in its head and sticks to it, and the writers do a magnificent job with the alternate universe storyline by using it as a mainstay of the series. I think what impressed me the most is how the actors are able to subtly differentiate between their "normal" universe selves and alternate universe selves in more ways than just appearance. It was disappointing when the universe became almost nonexistent in the last season, but I think that has more to do with the limited episodes the writers were given to wrap things up.

I was expecting the worst with the Observers after the mystical elements of Lost led to an unsatisfactory conclusion, but Abrams & Co. do a much better job handling these elements here by revealing them not to be some benevolent superbeings but instead a sinister race of fascists (even giving them German names like Mueller!)

I have the series finale to watch tonight, but I don't want it to end!

My wife and I have passed the halfway point for season five. While I miss the characters from the first three seasons, I've managed to love where the show has gone as well (although I was really, really put off when the plot for season five was revealed).

Whoever thought that Akiva Goldsman could be so closely associated with a fantastic product.*

*Anyone who tries to defend A Beautiful Mind will receive a gut punch.